Dad Threatened Me With Mom’s Life, My Reply Stunned Him

Right after my kidney transplant.

My supposedly perfect father stood by my bed with bloodshot eyes, claiming he had three earth-shattering secrets to tell me.

I figured it was just some bad investments he wanted me to bail him out of.

Instead, he delivered a crushing blow.

Fiona, you aren't our biological daughter. Sabrina is.

Seeing my lack of a reaction, he pushed harder.

"Youve been living in luxury on borrowed time. Its time to give the Lockhart Group inheritance back to her."

He didn't care at all that I had just come out of major surgery and couldn't handle any stress.

He even had the audacity to play the saint.

"Youve always been a good, dutiful daughter. You wouldn't want to watch your mother die on the operating table, would you?"

Looking at his smug, confident face, I just wanted to laugh.

"Is that it?"

The kidney transplant was over.

My mother was still unconscious, but I had just woken up.

"Fiona, there are three secrets I need to tell you."

I stared at my father, Marcus, a man with a spotless reputation as the perfect dad. I figured he had just botched an investment and needed me to clean up his mess.

"Go ahead," I said.

His eyes welled with tears, his voice cracking with emotion. "You aren't our biological child."

I frowned slightly.

"During the transplant compatibility tests, I noticed your blood type didn't match ours. Your mother and I are both type O, but you're type A."

"I was completely blindsided. I quietly ran a DNA test, and the results confirmed it. You aren't ours."

I kept quiet, watching his tears fall. "The truth is, Sabrina is our real daughter. Helena and I... we are her biological parents."

Sabrina? The girl our family had been sponsoring for twenty years?

"Sabrina grew up in a run-down foster home, suffering so much. Shes dreamed of having a real family her whole life, of having parents who cherish her."

"Now that weve finally found her, I can't let her suffer any longer."

"Fiona, I know this is a massive shock, but blood ties can't be denied."

He buried his face in his hands, weeping as if he were the victim of some tragic twist of fate.

"Marcus," I said, my voice flat, "I gave Mom a kidney. I didn't lose my brain."

He froze, looking up at my calm expression. "DNA results don't come back that fast. You knew Sabrina was your daughter long before today."

"No matter when you told me this, I still would have given Mom my kidney."

"So why did you have to wait until the exact moment my surgery was finished?"

Lying on the hospital bed, I looked at his tear-stained face. "You really are cold-blooded."

He scrambled to explain. "No! That's not it! I love you, of course I do. Its just that your mother's health has always been fragile, and the doctors said we couldn't stress her before the surgery..."

Just then, the door burst open, and Sabrina stepped in.

"Fiona, don't talk to Dad like that!"

With teary, pathetic eyes, she stood close to my bed. "He was only doing what was best for you and Mom..."

When I looked at her, she lowered her head and sobbed. "I'm so sorry, Fiona. I didn't mean to steal your parents."

"I honestly had no idea I had real parents out there."

She spoke in a trembling voice, tears spilling over her cheeks.

"Back in the foster home, I had to fight just to get a warm meal. I didn't even have a winter coat. My hands were covered in chilblains."

"I dreamed of having a home. Of having parents who loved me."

"Now, heaven has finally shown mercy and brought me back to them."

She wiped her tears, looking at me like a wounded puppy.

"Fiona, I finally have a mom and dad... You won't throw me out, will you?"

"We can still be a family, right?"

Her voice grew softer, desperate and fragile.

Marcus wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders, looking at me with disapproval.

"Fiona, Sabrina has had a hard life. Just let her have this."

"You've had everything since you were a child. She had nothing."

"She just wants her real parents back. You wouldn't deny her that, would you?"

I looked at his hand resting on Sabrina's shoulder.

"So, what is it you actually want me to do?"

Marcus clearly hadn't expected me to cut straight to the point.

Sabrina lowered her head, biting her lip in silence.

Marcus wiped away his meager tears, and his tone suddenly went cold.

"Since you've already guessed, I won't beat around the bush."

He stood up straight, looking down at me.

"There is something you must do."

"You aren't our biological child, which means the inheritance rights to the Lockhart Group belong to Sabrina. You need to sign them over."

Lying on the hospital bed, the surgical incision in my side throbbed with a dull ache.

But I didn't let my anger show. I just stared at him.

"Marcus, have you forgotten?"

"My grandfather was the one who designated me as the sole heir to the Lockhart Group."

"If there is to be any change, we should wait until Mom wakes up, go to the family estate, and let Grandfather handle it."

Marcus snapped, "Absolutely not!"

"Your grandfather is old and in poor health. We shouldn't trouble him with such minor family matters."

"We can settle this quietly among ourselves."

Handing over a multi-billion dollar conglomerate is a minor family matter?

Sabrina finally looked up, her face pale. "Fiona..."

"I know this is a lot to take in. I understand if you can't accept it right away."

"But blood is blood. You can't change facts."

"I am their biological daughter. That is the truth."

The tears began to flow again.

"I'm not trying to fight you for anything. I just think fate is finally being fair."

"You've enjoyed twenty-four years of being a pampered heiress. Luxury cars, mansions, private schools, bodyguards following your every step. Your biggest worry was probably which diamonds to wear."

She wiped her eyes, her voice cracking.

"But me? I grew up in a foster home, wearing rags, sleeping in a cramped, drafty bed, with chilblains all over my hands in the winter."

"Why did you get to live in luxury from the moment you were born, while I had to beg for a scrap of affection?"

Her voice grew louder, venting years of repressed bitterness.

"Now I just want what was always meant to be mine. Are you really going to deny me that?"

"Fiona, you are incredibly selfish!"

Marcus, overwhelmed with pity, pulled her into a tight hug.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. Dad's here."

He glared at me. "Fiona, look at what you've done!"

"Do you have any idea how much Sabrina has suffered? You can't even begin to imagine!"

"You've stolen her life for twenty-four years. Returning her inheritance is only right! What is there to hesitate about?"

I watched their touching display of fatherly love.

A slow smile crept onto my lips.

"Marcus, you are nothing but a son-in-law who married into the Lockhart family."

"You have absolutely no right to interfere with the company's succession."

His face instantly flushed a deep, angry crimson. "I am your father! How dare you speak to me like that!"

"Am I wrong?"

I cut him off. "When you married into this family, you signed a strict prenuptial agreement. You were allowed to manage daily operations, but you have zero decision-making power."

"The succession has always been entirely up to Grandfather and Mom."

"You don't get a say."

Marcus shook with rage, pointing a finger at me, unable to squeeze out a single word.

Seeing this, Sabrina quickly grabbed his arm to placate him.

"Dad, please don't be angry. Fiona is just in shock. She'll come around."

She turned back to me, her eyes glistening.

"Fiona, I know you're the designated heir and you're used to everyone catering to your every whim."

"But this isn't something you can just control."

"I am their real daughter, and nothing changes that. You can't keep holding onto things that don't belong to you."

She turned her head away, looking like a delicate, tragic heroine. "Of course, if you really refuse, I won't force you."

"I'll just accept that I wasn't meant to be happy."

"I've survived twenty-four years in a foster home. I can handle whatever comes next."

She wept as if her heart were breaking.

Marcus's eyes burned with indignation.

"Fiona!" he barked. "Look at how graceful and understanding Sabrina is! Now look at you!"

"You stole her life, and you can't even offer her a single word of blessing!"

"Do you even deserve to carry the Lockhart name?"

He was practically spitting in my face.

I lay there, the surgical wound in my side throbbing from the sudden spike of tension.

But I didn't flinch. I kept my eyes locked on Marcus. "I said, we wait until Mom wakes up. She will make the decision."

Marcus's face darkened. He stared at me for a long moment, then slowly, a sinister smile spread across his face.

"Do you honestly think... your mother is going to wake up?"

My fingers tightened around the bedsheets. "What do you mean?"

Just then, the door was thrown open.

A nurse rushed in, her face entirely pale.

"Miss Lockhart, your mother is experiencing severe transplant rejection! Shes in critical condition!"

"We need a family member to sign the consent form immediately for emergency resuscitation!"

I scrambled to sit up, my vision blurring. "I'll sign! Hand it to me!"

"Wait." Marcus stepped forward, physically blocking the nurse.

He looked back at me, his smile widening. "I forgot to tell you."

"As her legal husband, only my signature can authorize the hospital to proceed."

"If I choose not to sign... your mother dies."

My blood ran cold. "Are you insane? Shes been your wife for twenty-five years!"

"Twenty-five years of playing the obedient husband, putting up with her spoiled tantrums, and kissing up to her and that old man!"

"I am sick of it!" Marcus whipped out a document and threw it onto my bed. "Sign this."

I looked down. It was a Voluntary Relinquishment of Inheritance Rights.

Black ink on white paper. Clear and absolute.

"Sign it and leave your thumbprint, and I'll authorize her surgery. Otherwise, you can watch her die."

I glared at him. "You bought off the board of directors, didn't you?"

He let out a smug chuckle. "Why do you think I've been playing the loyal servant all these years?"

"Those greedy old fools on the board have been in my pocket for a long time."

"If you don't sign, your mother dies. When she's gone, the board will pressure your grandfather. That old traditionalist will never let a massive conglomerate fall to an outsider like you."

He leaned down, his voice dripping with malice. "If you know what's good for you, you'll sign."

"You love your mother so much, don't you?" Marcus shoved a pen into my hand. "She spent millions on you. She sent you to the best schools, gave you the finest life."

"Now it's time to pay her back. Surely you aren't so heartless as to let her die?"

I stared at the document, the pain in my side flaring up.

My voice was iron. "You planned this all along."

"You knew Sabrina was your daughter. You knew I was adopted. But you waited for the exact moment my mother was unconscious after surgery."

"You wanted to trap me, force me to give up the inheritance, and install Sabrina as the heir. Once Grandfather passes away, you can finally put your own name on the family legacy and take over everything."

Marcus looked down at me with mock pity. "And what are you going to do about it?"

"In the end, I'm the one who wins."

The nurse stood by the door, sweating profusely.

"Miss Lockhart, your mother is slipping away! We can't wait..."

"What's the rush?" Marcus cut her off coldly. "We're waiting for my daughter to sign."

He turned back to me. "Fiona, you wouldn't want the world to know you let your mother die, would you?"

Sabrina looked at me with a glint of smug satisfaction beneath her mask of pity.

To her, I was a fallen princess. My stepfather had betrayed me, my mother was on her deathbed, and my gilded life was finally over.

She was about to become the new queen of the Lockhart empire, and out of sheer generosity, she might spare me a little pity once she had the money.

I let out a slow sigh. "Marcus, twenty-four years, and you haven't changed a bit."

"With such cheap tricks, it's no wonder you never made anything of yourself."